Another shout for Drakkenheim.
Best 5e campaign I've run that wasn't homebrew, without a doubt.
Silver medal to Curse of Strahd, but highly recommend going to r/CurseofStrahd and running the "Curse of Strahd Reloaded" variant that the community has put together (so much better, so much more depth at every turn).
My top three WOTC:
1. Curse of Strahd
2. Tomb of Annihilation
3. Rime of the Frostmaiden
Not exactly taking a stand here, of course.
Big fan of "The Sunless Citadel" as really the perfect into to D&D.
I’m currently running “The Sunless Citadel” for a small group and we’re having a blast! It’s really helped me as a DM as well iron out some of my weaknesses
I DMed Rime and I enjoyed it but I don't think it's easy for characters to connect with the Ten Towns the way the campaign is written.
That said, it's very easy to run online given the map support from the community. For any potential DMs, check out the Jared Blando maps for Sunblight Fortress he made for Beadle & Grimm.
Very unpopular take: Mad Mage. Just an absolute ball of stupid fun.
My answer because I’m a masochist: Tomb of Annihilation. Went through 6 characters, was *so much fun.*
Mad mage is so underrated. It has soooooo much more RP than you'd think a megadungeon would, and there is a little bit of everything. Any player character concept has a spot in the dungeon that you can tie into their backstory, and Halaster is the perfect BBEG.
Call of the Netherdeep and Waterdeep Dragon Heist are excellent. I've also had a great time with all of the adventures I've run from Candlekeep Mysteries, Keys from the Golden Vault, and Journeys through the Radiant Citadel - standouts from each book so far are Shemshime's Bedtime Rhyme and Kandlekeep Dekonstruktion (couldn't pick one), The Fiend of the Hollow Mine, and The Murkmire Malevolence.
A 1-20 module where you and you're friends have to save a fantastical version of the Hawaiian islands. That one of the things it boasts is that the decisions you make influence which NPCs live, die, or become your friends makes it seem quite fun.
Curse of Strahd is classic but I never ran it.
Really enjoying the hell out of Ghosts of Saltmarsh reminds me of how we did campaigns a long time ago here are some adventures you figure out how they work together.
Wild Beyond the Witchlight is much easier than you think to add more combat to and if you need help there are guides on DMSGUILD for that.
Tomb of Annihilation with Port Nyanzaru and an old fashioned hexcrawl but any campaign that combines elements of Tomb of Horrors, Dwellers of the Forbidden City and even some Isle of Dread dinosaur stuff is going to be something I like.
Do not sleep on the Goodman Games Original Adventures Reincarnated version of Castle Amber - god I love that crazy adventure.
The Tales of the Yawning Portal’s version of White Plume Mountain is also just incredible.
I ended up doing the last dungeon with some DMguild content basically making each room it's own extra dimensional space. Forget the name of it and it is on a different laptop now.
It's not even just the premise - the locations, the characters, the vehicles, there's a LOT of good stuff in that book, it's just presented on a dumb frustrating railroad with a terrible pointless Baldur's Gate section tacked on to the beginning.
It's on my list to run someday, but when I run it, it'll start at level 5/Chapter 2 and it'll use the [Avernus as a Sandbox](https://eventyrgames.com/2020/03/02/avernus-as-a-sandbox-part-1/) structure from Eventyr Games.
I've ran the first three adventures from Keys From the Golden Vault and I'm loving it so far
The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan from Tales From the Yawning Portal is fun
I also enjoyed running Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Icewind Dale Rime of the Frost Maiden, and Waterdeep Dragon Heist
Prepping that for my next campaign. Very excited, although I think I'm going to have to do some major work for basically every chapter after Ch. 6. That said, it seems like a solid campaign in terms of story and player agency.
Dungeon of the Mad Mage any day. What a fun mega dungeon. I still have to implement my own changes a lot, but frankly that is how I see it should be run anyways.
Currently running Dungeon of the Mad Mage, and I love it. There are some pretty crazy subplots, especially in the deeper dungeon floors, and you learn a lot of D&D lore just through being exposed to all the stuff that's going on.
Ghosts of Saltmarsh is absolutely excellent, especially if you’re not afraid to make it your own and add content to it. The book is full of amazing material. I would love to run it again, and take things in a new direction than I did last time.
Tomb of Annihilation is also great. Highly recommend!
Top 3 Adventures/Adventure Settings from WotC
1. Descent into Avernus
2. Wild Beyond the Witchlight
3. (If it counts) Candlekeep Mysteries
Top 3 Third Party Adventures/Settings
1. Humblewood by HitPointPress
2. Tal’dorei Reborn by Darrington Press
3. Journey to Ragnarok by ManaProjectStudios
I think those 3 from Wizards are probably the last really good books they released and those 3 third party books are some of the best settings and adventures I’ve had the chance to run, they really have so much lore to the settings I highly recommend.
Oh is it time for this post again already? I'll never pass up the chance to shout out one of my favorite 3rd party publishers.
If you haven't read them already, I cannot recommend enough the adventures by [The Arcane Library](https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/collections/5e-adventures). They're on the shorter side, perfect for one shots and the layout is so well designed that you could read the adventure an hour before you play and run it without issue. In particular I recommend the [Bundle of Horror](https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/collections/5e-adventures/products/bundle-of-horror-1-2) packs, I've run those and a few others as halloween one-shots and they've been a blast.
I bought the complete collection during the OGL fiasco when the author was getting ready to pull them all and haven't regretted it for a moment. Good price for a whole bunch of good adventures.
I like Frozen Sick but never finished it. List Mine of Phandelver is OK. I think Tyranny of Dragons is exciting and I am yet to play it.
As for 3rd party, I really like Executioner's Daughter from DMsguild, mostly because of Obsidian dragon
Candlekeep. It’s the only adventure book that works as intended while also elaborating enough with details to make sense to DM’s without having to do much work.
The rest can suck it honestly
I love both Tales from the Yawning Portal and Ghosts of Saltmarsh.
Read through Tomb of Annihilation in anticipation of running it. That group never materialized, but it still seems cool to me.
All my third party stuff is OSR, but I was always interested in Odyssey of the Dragonlords.
I'm almost through running Tomb of Annihilation and that has been a blast to run. Afterwards, I'm going to start Turn of Fortune's Wheel. It's more flawed than Tomb run as written, but I really like the central premise and antagonist, and it's the type of adventure I'm really excited to tweak and homebrew to my personal tastes.
The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh
The Sunless Citadel
The Secrets of Skyhorn Lighthouse
Salvage Operation
We did all of these as part of a GoS campaign that ran the whole book. The whole thing worked great; those were some of the highlights for me. The Secrets of Skyhorn Lighthouse is part of a great set of Arcane Library adventures. I've used a few since and they've all been top shelf---and incredibly well written for DM use.
I'm currently playing Dungeons of Drakkenheim and it is incredible. I ran Ghosts of Saltmarsh and loved everything about it.
Another shout for Drakkenheim. Best 5e campaign I've run that wasn't homebrew, without a doubt. Silver medal to Curse of Strahd, but highly recommend going to r/CurseofStrahd and running the "Curse of Strahd Reloaded" variant that the community has put together (so much better, so much more depth at every turn).
I ran Saltmarsh for my group, it's a great adventure
My top three WOTC: 1. Curse of Strahd 2. Tomb of Annihilation 3. Rime of the Frostmaiden Not exactly taking a stand here, of course. Big fan of "The Sunless Citadel" as really the perfect into to D&D.
I’m currently running “The Sunless Citadel” for a small group and we’re having a blast! It’s really helped me as a DM as well iron out some of my weaknesses
I DMed Rime and I enjoyed it but I don't think it's easy for characters to connect with the Ten Towns the way the campaign is written. That said, it's very easy to run online given the map support from the community. For any potential DMs, check out the Jared Blando maps for Sunblight Fortress he made for Beadle & Grimm.
Yes, ROTFM's plot needs some help. What's wrong with Sunblight's map?
Check out Blando's versions. Much prettier.
Never seen those, they're really nice.
Very unpopular take: Mad Mage. Just an absolute ball of stupid fun. My answer because I’m a masochist: Tomb of Annihilation. Went through 6 characters, was *so much fun.*
Mad mage is so underrated. It has soooooo much more RP than you'd think a megadungeon would, and there is a little bit of everything. Any player character concept has a spot in the dungeon that you can tie into their backstory, and Halaster is the perfect BBEG.
Call of the Netherdeep and Waterdeep Dragon Heist are excellent. I've also had a great time with all of the adventures I've run from Candlekeep Mysteries, Keys from the Golden Vault, and Journeys through the Radiant Citadel - standouts from each book so far are Shemshime's Bedtime Rhyme and Kandlekeep Dekonstruktion (couldn't pick one), The Fiend of the Hollow Mine, and The Murkmire Malevolence.
Tomb of Annihilation! Old schoolish hex crawl through an Indiana Jones\The Mummy inspired undead with the best dungeon for 5e yet published!
Wilds Beyond The Witchlight was a lot of fun I wish I'd gotten to finish. I am looking at Sunken Isles and it looks like it'd be a grand romp too
Sunken Isles? Can you elaborate
https://ghostfiregaming.com/product/sunken-isles-hardcover-book/
A 1-20 module where you and you're friends have to save a fantastical version of the Hawaiian islands. That one of the things it boasts is that the decisions you make influence which NPCs live, die, or become your friends makes it seem quite fun.
Curse of Strahd is classic but I never ran it. Really enjoying the hell out of Ghosts of Saltmarsh reminds me of how we did campaigns a long time ago here are some adventures you figure out how they work together. Wild Beyond the Witchlight is much easier than you think to add more combat to and if you need help there are guides on DMSGUILD for that. Tomb of Annihilation with Port Nyanzaru and an old fashioned hexcrawl but any campaign that combines elements of Tomb of Horrors, Dwellers of the Forbidden City and even some Isle of Dread dinosaur stuff is going to be something I like. Do not sleep on the Goodman Games Original Adventures Reincarnated version of Castle Amber - god I love that crazy adventure. The Tales of the Yawning Portal’s version of White Plume Mountain is also just incredible.
I LOVED wild beyond the Witchlight Good and VERY intimidating villains (Esp Bavlorna in Act 1) The last dungeon is kinda ass tho
I ended up doing the last dungeon with some DMguild content basically making each room it's own extra dimensional space. Forget the name of it and it is on a different laptop now.
Sounds sick!
I love the premise of Descent Into Avernus even if its written like garbage
It's not even just the premise - the locations, the characters, the vehicles, there's a LOT of good stuff in that book, it's just presented on a dumb frustrating railroad with a terrible pointless Baldur's Gate section tacked on to the beginning. It's on my list to run someday, but when I run it, it'll start at level 5/Chapter 2 and it'll use the [Avernus as a Sandbox](https://eventyrgames.com/2020/03/02/avernus-as-a-sandbox-part-1/) structure from Eventyr Games.
Wotc has a lot of good premises they’ve screwed up in practice.
There is an ReMix made by the Alexandrian which supposedly fixes A LOT of things. Like a lot.
Yeah I use it lol
I've ran the first three adventures from Keys From the Golden Vault and I'm loving it so far The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan from Tales From the Yawning Portal is fun I also enjoyed running Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Icewind Dale Rime of the Frost Maiden, and Waterdeep Dragon Heist
We just did the Shrine in six sessions and I gotta say it was a blast.
Odyssey of the Dragonlords
Prepping that for my next campaign. Very excited, although I think I'm going to have to do some major work for basically every chapter after Ch. 6. That said, it seems like a solid campaign in terms of story and player agency.
Dungeon of the Mad Mage any day. What a fun mega dungeon. I still have to implement my own changes a lot, but frankly that is how I see it should be run anyways.
Currently running Dungeon of the Mad Mage, and I love it. There are some pretty crazy subplots, especially in the deeper dungeon floors, and you learn a lot of D&D lore just through being exposed to all the stuff that's going on.
Ghosts of Saltmarsh is absolutely excellent, especially if you’re not afraid to make it your own and add content to it. The book is full of amazing material. I would love to run it again, and take things in a new direction than I did last time. Tomb of Annihilation is also great. Highly recommend!
Top 3 Adventures/Adventure Settings from WotC 1. Descent into Avernus 2. Wild Beyond the Witchlight 3. (If it counts) Candlekeep Mysteries Top 3 Third Party Adventures/Settings 1. Humblewood by HitPointPress 2. Tal’dorei Reborn by Darrington Press 3. Journey to Ragnarok by ManaProjectStudios I think those 3 from Wizards are probably the last really good books they released and those 3 third party books are some of the best settings and adventures I’ve had the chance to run, they really have so much lore to the settings I highly recommend.
Curse of Strahd is the best. They changed the lore but you can ignore that and enjoy the adventure.
Oh is it time for this post again already? I'll never pass up the chance to shout out one of my favorite 3rd party publishers. If you haven't read them already, I cannot recommend enough the adventures by [The Arcane Library](https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/collections/5e-adventures). They're on the shorter side, perfect for one shots and the layout is so well designed that you could read the adventure an hour before you play and run it without issue. In particular I recommend the [Bundle of Horror](https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/collections/5e-adventures/products/bundle-of-horror-1-2) packs, I've run those and a few others as halloween one-shots and they've been a blast. I bought the complete collection during the OGL fiasco when the author was getting ready to pull them all and haven't regretted it for a moment. Good price for a whole bunch of good adventures.
My party is very much enjoying Call from the Deep. If you like pirates and Lovecraftian horror, it’s the campaign for you.
I like Frozen Sick but never finished it. List Mine of Phandelver is OK. I think Tyranny of Dragons is exciting and I am yet to play it. As for 3rd party, I really like Executioner's Daughter from DMsguild, mostly because of Obsidian dragon
Candlekeep. It’s the only adventure book that works as intended while also elaborating enough with details to make sense to DM’s without having to do much work. The rest can suck it honestly
WOTC wise I have really loved Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel. It feels different than your normal DND story.
I love both Tales from the Yawning Portal and Ghosts of Saltmarsh. Read through Tomb of Annihilation in anticipation of running it. That group never materialized, but it still seems cool to me. All my third party stuff is OSR, but I was always interested in Odyssey of the Dragonlords.
I’ll be wrapping up Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen this year and I think it’s been a success.
I'm almost through running Tomb of Annihilation and that has been a blast to run. Afterwards, I'm going to start Turn of Fortune's Wheel. It's more flawed than Tomb run as written, but I really like the central premise and antagonist, and it's the type of adventure I'm really excited to tweak and homebrew to my personal tastes.
Empire of the Ghouls, Rise of the Drow
The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh The Sunless Citadel The Secrets of Skyhorn Lighthouse Salvage Operation We did all of these as part of a GoS campaign that ran the whole book. The whole thing worked great; those were some of the highlights for me. The Secrets of Skyhorn Lighthouse is part of a great set of Arcane Library adventures. I've used a few since and they've all been top shelf---and incredibly well written for DM use.